Thrasher Magazine

Photos by Blabac 

Wes Kremer: What’s goin’ on?
Evan Smith: Partied last night. It was Jamie Tancowny’s birthday.

W: Oh, dope. That’s what’s up.
E: Yup, made it back to Long Beach. What are you doin,’ dude? How’s Denmark?

W: I’m on a fuckin’ boat, rollin’ a plant. You know the champagne was flowin’ on the boat, once again.
E: How many bottles of champagne have you had? Last year the crew consumed twenty-two bottles.

W: Twenty-two?
E: Twenty-two bottles of champagne in one sitting.

W: Shut the fuck up.
E: Heavy risk.

W: That’s what’s good, dude, I had a couple bottles to myself; it was fuckin’ glorious. So what’s crackin’, dude? When we gonna kick it?
E: We’re gonna kick it in three weeks. I’m comin’ out to Europe. You’re gonna go back to the States and then you’re gonna come back to Europe, right?

W: Oh, that’s right. You got a Element trip comin’ up, huh?
E: Yeah, we’re gonna do Croatia and Barcelona.

W: Oh, you’re goin’ to Croat?
E: Yeah, and maybe Lyon too.

The Krusty Crustacean is right at home at this beach break. Wes, frontside 360     Photo: Rhino

W: Damn, that’s gonna be a fuckin’ good time. You’ve ever been there before? You ever been to Croat?
E: Croatia? No, I haven’t been to Croat.

W: I know you’ve been on the Croat Bus, but you haven’t been to the fucking Croat capital?
E: Haven’t been to the Croat capital. Not yet.

W: Damn, so you’re in the LB right now?
E: Yeah, the LBC, like the sunrise.

W: Oh, dude, top of the map. You’ve been at home at all?
E: Nah. Went for, like, two days.

W: Yeah, fuckin’ two weeks ago, huh?
E: Yeah, two weeks ago I went home for two days, and then before that I was on the road for, like, three months.

W: You’ve been on the fuckin’ power mission.
E: But it’s perfect. It’s like the best thing that could’ve ever happened to me.

W: Oh, for sure. Survival.  
E: Yeah, survival.

W: Yeah, dude, that was dope being able to chill in fuckin’ Croatsta Rica. My bug bites are still fuckin’ healing up. 
E: Yes, seriously. Dude, the Croat Bus definitely sent us in our amazing, different directions, I would say. And, I mean, for us over at DC having the blessing of skating together all the time led us to making this promo, you know? We’ve got Tiago with a full part, Tristan with a full part, me and you are sharing a part—that’s sick to work towards. I’m excited to see the project unfold completely.

The Cosmic Crusader cranks a killer Cab back tail in Chula. Evan crushes

W: Workin’ hard or hardly workin’?
E: Yeah, and I was gonna say we’ve been hardly working, too, ’cause we had the opportunity to go to Croatsta Rica.

W: Croatsta Rica, dude, for sure. Been posted out in Europe, extended vacation on the boat. Out here for two weeks.
E: Before that, though, what’ve you been doin’?

W: I’ve been in Croats for the last week, just surviving the contest madness. Definitely been a good time. I was in Helsinki, chillin’ with the Govs before that.
E: Hell yeah. I saw those photos of you guys with Penny and stuff. 

W: Oh, yesterday we smoked a 15-gram banger with Penny, dude. Shit you not. Surrey and Jake Hayes won a 15-gram joint for doing back-to-back nollie cab flips, frontside and backside.
E: Wow, heavy.

W: That’s real talk right there.
E: Sick. What have you been working on besides the promo? You gotta lot of stuff going on. You’re traveling constantly, but you’re not traveling to contests or no bullshit like that. You’re traveling to spread your love and your whereabouts and be you, ’cause you’re epic. And I’m watching it unfold, but sometimes I’m not there. Sometimes you go without me, dude.

W: Which is a bummer. But I’m trying to travel all the time, Govs. I’m pretty much just being a bum. If I’m not on a trip, I’m fuckin’ posted up in San Diego, chilling there with the Mafia.
E: That’s so sick.

W: Yeah, I’m a bum. But I’m working on trying to better myself as a person. I’m gonna survive this promo—something to show that we’re still here, we still fuckin’ skate and we’re still gonna have a good time. There’s nothing more to it, man.
E: Yeah, our DC family is like nothing else, man. I hope it’s gonna shine through, like the old DC video, you know? ’Cause we got a similar style of crew going down right now with all variations of skating: some hip-hop-oriented stuff to psych-rock stuff. We have such a diverse team right now, especially with little Funk and Tiago. I can’t wait to see the boys.

W: You think T-Funk’s ever gonna hit puberty?
E: I think he’s definitely gonna hit puberty one day, and when he does, he’s gonna freakin’ punch me in the face!

W: He hit tats before puberty, man.
E: He drinks a lot of coffee, man.


W: He got an arm tat with no hair under his armpit, dude. But enough Funk. How about T-Go? We gotta let the world know. Actually, we don’t even need to do anything; he’s letting the world know that he’s about to eat. You fuckin’ wanna see someone eat? Take Tiago to a spot.
E: He wears one of those little string backpacks and it’s just full of food; he’s constantly eating. You put him in his cage and let him charge up, like a battery. Next thing you know, you take the shackles off and he just can’t stop.

W: He just springs out, dude. It’s like he’s just sitting in a jack-in-the-box, and next thing you know, that shit pops.
E: I’ve never seen anything like Tiago’s skating, man. He’s one of a kind. He’s such a spectacular dude.

W: People are gonna see Tiago’s footy and just be shocked. Straight up.
E: T-Go is insane. We’re so lucky we get to skate with him. He’s that real progressive Brazilian, you know? He’s got the roots of Brazil, the streets of Brazil embedded in his psyche, and then he gets the opportunity to skate and he unleashes it. He mixes the combination of those two things: a street warrior with the world’s best skater. You mix those two things together, next thing you know, Tiago’s there. Beast. Puma.

Someone turned Wes’ neck dial back to the on position. Nollie into the bank

W: Fuckin’ puma, dude.
E: Black panther. Dude, he’s a G.

W: I gotta say, we missed you in Copenhagen this year, man.
E: I know. I’m super, super bummed, but I had an amazing week. I stayed at Element skate camp in Visalia the whole week, and I walked on coals last night.

W: You walked on coals?!
E: Yeah, I did a three-mile run down a hill with no shoes on in 20 minutes. Just full-on body training. Filming for videos is not easy, you know? It catches up with me. My ankles and my shit’s really sore, but doing physical therapy and training has been really, really cool. I’m not as young as T-Funk anymore, dude.

W: Yeah, right. So you’re just fuckin’ peeling that top layer off? Building the callus.
E: Yeah, building the calluses. I got no athlete’s foot on my feet. The sun’s rays just burn ’em away. 


W: Dude, remember when you had scales on your feet?
E: I do remember my scales. Like a little lizard.

W: Dude, you had straight golf-ball patterns on your foot, just straight scales. How does that happen, man? You gotta let your feet breath.
E: You get a mystery toe and the next thing you know it starts to spread. You got full cheese-grater feet. Moisture and hot places is 
not chill.

W: Seriously, what about that homie in Austin that showed you his foot? He told you to, “Smell the death.”
E: Oh, you could smell the death. He called me a headneck.

W: That was too good. That was epic. 
E: He pulls his foot out and I’m just all, “Dude, that thing smells buck.” We’re sitting behind the hotel and this classic river rat rolls out of the darkness. He pulls out his foot, which smelled like a freakin’ rotten bag of diapers. His flesh is fully deteriorating off and he’s, like, “Meat’s falling off the bone.” He eventually called me a headneck and I got mad and walked away.

Evan, crailslide on a double-black-diamond hip

W: Fuckin’ bum showed you his foot.
E: Yeah, just showed me his foot and I almost threw up.

W: When was the last you threw up?
E: Dude, I almost threw up just a couple seconds ago.

W: Just wake up, throw up, show up, blow up.
E: What about you? You throw up in Copenhagen?

W: Nah, I threw up in Finland. Definitely passed out yesterday at the party, though.
E: Dude, through the connected world wide web I got a photo of you Bernie’d on the side of the ground in freakin’ Helsinki. Just gone. Just Bernie’d.

W: Just takin’ a little nap, you know? That was the jet lag, man. It hit me. It finally hit me.
E: It was the sickest thing ever.

W: It happens, man. Pretty much I’ll be out, you know, everything’s all good. Just having a couple drinks, keeping it casual and next thing you know, I have a little too much to drink and I sit down and pretty much the whole night comes crashing in on me. I just shut down, just pass out.
E: Just gone. Weekend at Bernie’s. It’s like you had a dial on your neck and someone turned you off. I would’ve been checking your pulse, dude. What’s it like having the opportunity to skate all the time and travel? A lot of kids around the world, you know, they gotta do a job. Neither of us really consider skating a job. It’s kinda just embedded and ingrained in us. But how does it feel to keep that inspo goin’, to have that type of path given to you?

Front nose on the last bit of coping in Pala pool, Wes slides the serpent     

W: It’s a way of life. You just do your best to stay in one piece. Survive. Do your best to stay on your skateboard and just keep the good times rollin’. It’s a fuckin’ blessing come true, you know? Being able to travel through skateboarding, being able to meet so many amazing people and network and just kick it, dude. Like, right now, coming to Copenhagen and seeing so many heads that I’ve met over the years. Man, it’s so dope. It’s just like, “Oh, I remember you!” This homie came up to me and he’s, like, “Yo, I just met you in Costa Rica. Pura vida!” Yeah, out here in Copenhagen. Just, like, “I seen you last week in fuckin’ 
Costa Rica.”
E: That’s so badass. That’s pure inspiration, man. To have the opportunity to hold onto those memories and those times. And then to have them build on itself, and next thing you know, you’re Bernie’d on the sidewalk. Just another good time.

W: And luckily you got your sidekicks. Hopefully someone will notice you Bernie’d out in the streets and they’ll fuckin’ pick you up. And if not, whatever. But you better hope you wake up with a kidney or two!
E: Tell me the story about how you got roofied.

W: Oh God, dude. Watch out! Don’t drink wine from strangers in Rome. Homie offered me a joint, thought it was gonna be all good. I take a sip and I’m, like, “This doesn’t taste like wine.” Next thing you know, it’s 6am, I’m in the middle of the street, no fuckin’ board, no wallet, no camera, no friends, just fuckin’ solo—and still having to make a flight.
E: Wow.

W: Yeah, that was a healthy one. Pretty much missed a flight in Europe. Had an extra day in the wrong city—or the right city.
E: Dude, that happened on my first DC trip in 2009 when we were doing the Super Tours. I was just a little flow rat in Barci; somehow I got invited. It was a late night. I’m 19, my first trip, one hour before I have to go to the airport. I’m just sitting on the bed, just trying to stay awake sitting up—and I fall asleep sitting up, missed my flight. Got stuck in Barci while everyone else left to go to Dublin. And then next thing you know, I’m there with Yonnie for a whole day. I got myself a disposable camera, made my way around just taking photos. I had the most epic day and night and almost missed my flight again! Heavy.

E-Smith attacks Washington Street with a nosegrind to fakie. Can’t learn that outta a book

W: I remember staying up that night, walking in the room, remembering that you had an earlier flight and seeing you on the bed. I was just, like, “Wait, what? What are you doing here? You were supposed to catch a flight an hour ago. You’re done.” Luckily you did make it to Dublin.
E: Dude, the travels definitely led us around in a tangled mess. But at the same time, the lessons that we’re learning you can’t read out of a book, you know? Human dynamic class doesn’t teach that. Pushing the envelope, nobody understands that type of stuff. Stuff that can’t be written or even spoken about.

W: You just fuckin’ live it, you experience it and you learn from it. Definitely a good time. But make those flights!
E: So what do you got comin’ in the future, Wes? When this interview comes out, the promo is gonna be done. You working on something else?

W: We’re doing a Mafia trip after the Montreal trip.
E: Dude, I’m so excited for these next couple trips—Montreal and stuff. The Dime Glory Challenge, dude. It’s gonna be insane. 

W: Oh my God, dude. Definitely remember last year, right, Govs?
E: Yeah, that was amazing. Eating mushrooms, going down the roll in, doing flatground tricks as fast as you can. 

W: That was epic, dude. I just talking about that with Frank Gerwer. He got smoked! He did the fastest nollie flip ever. He launched over the quarterpipe, dude. Straight launched on top and launched over the back—got smoked. 
E: Yeah, all the way, though. All the way onto his back. He was alright; he’s Frankie G. You got smoked last year too. You clipped and you did a Bernie slide across the whole ledge.

W: Yeah, shit got too real. That bum came and started harassing us and Frank was, like, “I can’t take this.”
E: I remember he was, like, “I’m going back to my room and I’m just gonna lay in bed.”

W: That was a good time, dude.
E: How do you feel about being on psychedelic trips when you’re around people in public?

Casually cruising through an alley-oop tailslide at WSVT. No Bernie slide for Kremer this time

W: Well, growing up, a couple times being in crowded situations it definitely got hectic. But now, honestly, if you just get a couple drinks, you can just mellow out. Unless you’re on fire, unless you’re on a really good one, then you should be inside—closed doors or just out in the field. Out in the forest, naked.
E: Jereme Roger’n it. On top of buildings.

W: For sure. If he was in the forest, he’d be good, man. He’d be floating around.
E: Dude, remember Jereme Rogers’ part in Yeah, Right!? How good was that? Next thing you know he’s butt naked on top of a freakin’ building covered in tattoos. Okay, Wes, kinda old news to you, but forever the best news to me. You won Skater of the Year in 2014 and got a trophy. Where does that thing live?

W: Well, first, I gotta thank you for that acknowledgement from the bottom of my heart, my brother. But on the very same night I believe we celebrated a different occasion. Congratulations on winning the MVP for King of the Road 2014! That was one of the proudest moments of my life, my kid brother.
E: You know what? We both took our trophies and we just keep them in our hearts.

W: You got a trophy for that? That’s dope. Well, where’s your trophy at?
E: I got a figurative trophy that I stuffed in my heart.

Evan blazes through a crooked grind 270 while “Brave Captain” blasts through his brain    

W: Oh, for sure. Just a giant crown. Nollie tré front board. Holla atcha boy.
E: Dude that was the most epic night. How crazy was that? Think about that. That was just the craziest thing that we ever get to experience with our lives.

W: Oh, that was like straight out of a movie.
E: People jumping off of the top balcony, just falling off. It was so loud in there!

W: It was crazy. So what do you think you’d be doing if you weren’t skating? I mean, besides music, because we know that. We know you’d be a musician or a rock star. But where would you find yourself without music or your board?
E: I’m obsessed with quantum physics and biology and aesthetics of life, so that could be something that would really interest me. If it wasn’t music or skateboarding, being all on the left side of your brain, but pushing the boundaries of human existence so that other people become aware of creative breakthroughs. I’d be able to see that. Hopefully find some fundamental knowledge from studying existence and consciousness, just people being alive and how they sit in their bodies and how it all works. That is something that is extremely fascinating to me and there’s some serious science and math behind it. I think science could speak to me if I wasn’t launching frequencies or kickflips.

W: That’s how Rodney Mullen discovered the first one. Definitely quantum physics.
E: What would you be doing if you didn’t have your skateboard? I know for both of us there would be a huge piece missing. If you didn’t have that piece and you had to fill that void, what would you fill it with?

W: It’d be filled with being a bum.
E: Hey, are you burning a spliff right now?

W: Uh, no. The homies are, but I don’t have one in my hand. My name is Skip Skippington. What’s your favorite skate video on VHS?
E: My favorite video, that I did not own, was Santa Cruz’ Streets on Fire. That was the best video to watch. I could only watch it at the shop. I got the pleasure of being able to witness it, but I didn’t have the fund-age at the time to pull myself a VHS outta my ass. What about you? What’s your favorite VHS of all time?

W: I’m gonna go with The Storm. Dude, The Storm and D3s just shaped my whole life that I know right now.
E: That’s so good to hear. That’s a beautiful, beautiful thing.

W: Yeah, being from San Diego, it’s just a given.
E: That’s your heritage right there.

W: Oh, for sure. You gotta own a copy of The Storm and/or D3s as well as do frontside flips where you think you’re about to get credit carded but somehow you survive.
E: Hey, tell me about the first time you got credit carded.

For Wes, NBD means No Big Deal. Late frontside bigspin at Bay Park Elementary

W: It was my 11th birthday. I was fuckin’ so hyped, like, I could just try any trick I wanted on flatground. I was, like, “Fuck it. I’m gonna try a nollie inward heel,” and just got straight up smoked! Just done. Just laying in my cul-de-sac for ten minutes.
E: And you know you had razor tail like a motherfucker too.

W: Dude, I had a Route 66 deck with some almighty razor tail. Just straight razored out. 
It was brutal. I definitely broke the skin on 
that one.
E: The first time I got credit carded I was trying to nose manual a curb with three steps at the end. 
I nose manual’d up the curb—I was holding it—and I went to pop down the three and my back foot slips off and I go straight down, legs dangling, straight to the gooch, ripped it open, bleeding. My natural instinct is to start running as fast as I can in circles and screaming. I dive bombed into the grass, hand down the pants, pulled my hand out, covered in blood. I went home—it was fine, just a little cut; it wasn’t even gnarly, but it was so bruised I had to get a fuckin’ donut pillow from the hospital so I could even sit down. I brought my donut pillow to middle school. I was walking around with my donut pillow, like, “You guys wouldn’t even understand what a credit card is.”

W: That’s not even a problem these days, though, ‘cause you grew up. You got those daddy long legs. That board’s chillin’.
E: Dude, but you find a big enough fuckin’ rail—speaking of The DC Promo—and you can sack the fuck out of it, no problem.

W: That was a great time, dude. I was scared. The almighty sack to scorpion. And then you skated the next ten days on the trip and ripped. How dare you. Who’s your favorite DC rider of all time?
E: I’d have to say Tiago. He is sick to skate with. He’s crazy.

W: Lock him up. Once he’s let out of the cage, out of the van, he just jumps out and chomps up the spots. You know when you look at a ledge and there’s chunks taken out of it? Those aren’t bikers. That was fuckin’ Tiago, just eating it. What’s your next handstand maneuver that we can expect out of you?
E: Dude, me and Madars Apse were learning them, and then Madarse really learned them. He started doing them for city blocks and shit.

W: He was carving bowls in the demo.
E: Dude, he’s doing the craziest tricks now and it’s absolutely mind blowing. Stuff that’s never been done. And I just don’t understand it. I kinda took a step back. I can still go maybe two parking spaces, get it up there full extension and then drop it back down. But I can’t fingerflip. I gotta talk to Rodney Mullen about this. Rodney, if you’re reading this, I need advice for finger flipping out of handstands.

W: Oh, he knows. Rodney Mullen or Winkowski know.
E: Dude. Legend.

W: Do you think you could ever learn a ho ho?
E: I actually have a rolling bet with Cookie right now. The first person to do one, the other person’s gotta pay them 100 bucks.

W: If I see you do a ho ho or you tell me you did one, I got you on 100 beers.
E: Dude, I am up for the challenge. That’s why skating is exciting: there’s always something to learn.

Evan, alley-oop frontside 5-0 to fakie flip while not training for the Olympics. Artists > athletes

W: I’m gonna learn a headspin. Just do an invert and then somehow do a headspin and then roll back in the tranny. With a mall grab. And then creep back in coffin. Hey, who is your favorite East Coast skater of all time?
E: Holy shit. That’s tough. Maybe Jake Johnson.

W: Jake’s the man.
E: He is amazing. He’s so fucking awesome as a person and then all of his footage is just so fucking cool. There’s only one Jake Johnson. Who’s your favorite West Coast skater of all time?

W: I’m gonna go with motherfuckin’ Brandon Turner.
E: I’m so glad you said that.

W: He fuckin’ holds it down for the West Coast, tough as fuck.
E: He embodies the spirit of the West Coast, for sure.

W: Dude, I gotta ask, how are you so good at contests? Give us some fruits of wisdom.
E: I started to get weirded out by contests, just because the industry is shifting a little bit, ’cause it’s heading towards the Olympics—Olympic athletic bullshit stuff. Basically, skating is becoming a sport. Which is a 
weird thing. Everyone treats it like a sport. 
If someone were to take away all my sponsors, I’m still gonna be the exact same person with my skateboard. So, for me, it’s a lifestyle; it’s a piece of art; it’s a different thing. But with the Olympics coming around, I feel like with any industry, it’s just gonna get divided in half. You’ll have some people who are only focusing on being Olympic athletes, and then there will be the artists, the creators of the lifestyle.

W: That’s what it is nowadays: just skaters and athletes.
E: Yeah, I mean, I’m never gonna let my guard down ever again for a contest, because this is my life. I don’t give a fuck. This is my actual position, my place. You know what I’m saying? You’d be exactly the same way if they took all of your sponsors away. You’re a skater; it’s in your freakin’ blood. It’s not a show for someone else to experience. It’s what we walk; it’s how we sit in our bodies, you know?

W: Yeah, I’m definitely gonna stay a fuckin’ bum, f’sho.
E: Dude, I’m so lucky that I’ve been able to travel with you. I would not be the same person right now if I didn’t have the opportunity to do everything that we’ve done over the years. We’re like brothers, you know? We keep each other going and we keep motivating each other. Now look at us. We’re still working on something. We’re still traveling together.

W: For the last decade almost, dude. We’ve covered six continents together, Govs. We just gotta go to Antarctica, and that’s the world. Let’s get it!
E: The only continent we’re missing is Antarctica. We need to bring the Croat Bus down there. We gotta do it. Imagine going down there. 

Wes crosses this switch lip off the bucket list. Next up, blacking out on the moon!

W: Let’s get it going. Hop on a boat; start cruisin’. What’s on your bucket list? What haven’t you done that you really wanna do that might be far-fetched? 
I really wanna go to the moon. That’d be a good time, to go to space.
E: I got to walk on coals yesterday; that was a cool bucket-list thing. I wanna go nine days without talking and then I wanna go three days without hearing anything.

W: Life goals. I wanna climb a Sequoia tree.
E: Go to any national forest and live there forever. Life goal.

W: I wanna surf a wave barefoot, like, barefoot waterski it. Might get a tidal wave.
E: I wanna write a novel.

W: I wanna catch a Great White.
E: I wanna learn how to do a handstand fingerflip like Rodney Mullen.

W: I wanna do an invert or a handplant. Definitely a life goal.
E: Dude, another one: front invert. That’s a life goal. Like Grant’s front invert in Thrasher mag. I got to see that. He did one for the first time on the Thrash n Burn trip. It made me think that anything is possible. Think about MJ, what he said in the Hot Chocolate video credits: “If you can come up with it, you could do it.” We all asked for that for years and years and years, and now people are asking for the same words from us. That’s inspiration.

W: Remember, dude, “We are the music makers, and the dreamers of dreams.”
E: I do know that life is short. I know people grow old and they say that time gets faster and faster, but at this point in our lives, Wes, we got the opportunity to continue to grow and hit all those things on the bucket list and check ’em off forever. Get ourselves a little Gilligan’s Island hat, next thing you know, we’re on the bucket list.

W: Damn, for real. Just growing as people. It’s been dope hanging out and traveling for the last ten years, chilling, talking shit and smokin’ spliffs.
E: Dude, I hope we got ten more.

W: Yeah, for sure, dude. Cheers to ten more. I’m still down to go on a trip any day with you, Govs. Any trip, any day—let’s do it.
E: Any place, any time.

W: We’re gonna skate the moon, dude. I’m gonna have the first blackout on the moon. 
E: The dark side of the moon is really just Wes passed out.

W: What you got coming up for the next couple months?
E: I wanna say all the videos are gonna be dropping, so I’m just going to go hang out with a bunch of people in different places, keep traveling and then I’m going to go home for Christmas and have an epic time with my family. What about you?

W: I’m gonna be huffing it, making it back to Europe. I’m just gonna creep out somewhere.
E: That’s sick, Wes.

W: You know what’s up. You’re a fuckin’ G. You put the capital G in fuckin’ legend. I just wanna thank you for all the good times over the years and being such a fuckin’ rad road dog. It’s been a fuckin’ blessing doing this.
E: Same goes to you, man. Watching you grow up and being able to be there as a friend has been awesome.

W: Watching me grow up, blackout, fuckin’ Bernie off. The Croat Bus is on the way.
E: Alright, love you so much.